Piston ring



B. H. HAVERLY April 7, 1953 PISTON RING Filed Sept. 28, 1949 INVENTOR BY ATTORNEYS.

m H w Patented Apr. 7, v1953 UNIT ED S TATES "PAT ENT OFFICE i 2,634,173 PISTON RING Byron H. Haverly, NorthBlenheim,

-Application September 28, I-949," SerialENo.1158;423

This invention relates to piston ring construction, and more particularly topiston rings which areiusedat the upper .endsof pistons, the piston iliu'brication resultinginexcessive. wear at the upend oftthe cylinder.

A further object of. the invention is to provide a piston ring which will be forced against the cylinder wall by compression, during the compressionrstroke of-the piston, the construction of the piston ring eliminatingexcessivepressurethereby providing means for-controlling the pressure to any desired amount, and consequently reducing wear to a minimum.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a piston ring which will return surplus oil from the cylinder wall to the crank case through the piston, the oil acting to absorb engine heat, thereby increasing the efficiency of the engine.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will app-ear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a iragmental sectional view through a cylinder illustrating a piston operating therein and provided with a ring constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged :Eragmental sectional view showing the ring as positioned in a ring groove of a piston.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental plan view illustrating the stepped construction at the split ends of the piston rings.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the reference character 5 indicates a cylinder wall of an internal combustion engine, in which the piston 6 operates, the piston being provided with a ring groove indicated by the reference character 1.

The ring groove forms an important feature of the present invention, since it has been constructed to receive the piston ring or packing which constitutes the subject matter of the present invention, and which has been constructed in a particular manner for accomplishing a particular result.

As shown, the ring groove is formed with an 1 Claim. (Cl. 309-7) upper oi fset portionatsprovidingran annulanshonlder;9.

:The: piston ring isindicated'. generally rby .Erthe reference character. .li) and-sis provided 'withoverlapping ends I !:,:ov.erlapped insteppedlformation, .as clearly-shownbyrFigJjB of the drawingthereby t-o el-iminaterloss of'rcompressionattthe connected ends;ofthesplit'ring.

.ASTPSI'IOWII :by .Fig. .2 of :the drawing, :the piston i ring IE0 is .formed with an annular :cut away portion extending inwardly fromfthe .innergsnrface 'of'the piston :ring at aspointintermediate ,the height of the ring, the cut away portion extend.-

;ing' through substantially'oneehal'f, of the width of thering-proper.

finds its way between the inner edge of the piston ring and inner wall of the ring groove. As shown by Fig. 2 of the drawing, the sealing ring i2 is spaced from the wall iii of the piston ring,

the space communicating with the space [4 formed between the upper surface of the piston ring and top of the ring groove, the space M communicating with the annular space or passageway i5 between the piston and cylinder wall so that compression may find its way through the space l5 and expand within the space between the wall it and sealing ring I 2, forcing the piston ring 10 outwardly against the wall of the cylinder to provide a compression type connection at this point. Due to the sealing ring, it will be obvious that the space It between the piston ring and inner wall of the ring groove, will be sealed 'ofL-thereby reducing the pressure directed to the piston ring, to insure against the ring causing undue wear on the cylinder wall.

This piston is provided with a plurality of bores H which are inclined downwardly towards the center of the piston, the bores I! providing passageways for oil to pass from the upper portion of the ring, to the interior of the piston, and to the crank case, eliminating surplus oil which would otherwise foul the spark plugs of the engme.

In operation, assuming that piston 6 is mov- -ing on the lower side of the ring groove and the sealing ring would be resting on the shoulder of the piston groove and piston ring as in the drawing. When the piston moves upwardly in the cylinder, the upper corner of the ring II] in contact with the cylinder wall scrapes the oil film from the cylinder wall. A portion of this oil is forced into the space M between the rings and ring groove. When the motion of the piston is reversed and the piston starts down the rings, due to friction on the cylinder wall, will move up against the top of the ring groove and by so doing, compress this oil forcing it back into the groove 8 and as the sealing ring by moving upwardly lifts from its seat on the shoulder 9, the oil is caused to be drawn into the space It and through bore I! to the inside of the piston.

Assuming that the piston is moving downwardly in the cylinder, the rings are up against the top ring groove leaving a space between the lower side of the piston ring and the lower ring groove. When the piston moves downwardly in the cylinder, the lower corner of the piston ring in contact with the cylinder, scrapes oil film from the cylinder and a portion of this oil is forced between the lower side of the ring and the ring groove, and when the piston motion reverses, this oil will be forced in space I6 and will drain through the bore l1.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A piston ring for positioning in a main ring groove of a piston, the ring groove having an annular inwardly extended offset portion providing an upper ring groove communicating with the main ring groove, a main ring member having its inner upper edge cut away, fitted within the main ring groove, the cut-away portion of said main ring providing a shoulder aligning with the offset portion of the piston ring groove, providing a sealing ring groove, a sealing ring fitted Within the offset portion of the ring groove, resting on the shoulder of said main ring, the front and rear edges of the sealing ring being spaced from the main ring and inner wall of the offset portion of the ring groove respectively, providing compression spaces between the sealing ring and main ring, and said piston having drain bores downwardly inclined from the ring groove, through which surplus oil is directed to the interior of the piston.

BYRON H. HAVERLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,260,031 Johnston Oct. 21, 1941 2,415,594 Jessup Feb. 11, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 302,741 Great Britain Dec. 27, 1928 498,123 Great Britain Jan. 3, 1938 703,467 Germany of 1941 

